Social Interactional Behaviors of Children with Specific Language Impairment

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) often encounter social difficulties. This paper provides an overview of recent studies on the social skills of children with SLI followed by a detailed look at six children with SLI. The data reviewed include teacher ratings of social skills and child self-perceptions of loneliness and quantity of peer contacts. These children also participated in a series of interactional tasks including access, negotiation, and cooperative work. For each child, we consider the implications for language intervention goals and practices.